Green Labyrinth
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R I X E N
Despite the icy coldness of the flowing water around my knees, everything somehow felt warm. The sun was now poking through the leafy canopy above us, and I could feel its gentle rays caressing my striped back. But the physical warmth on my skin was not the only warmth I felt. For it ran even deeper, beneath my flesh, seeping into my bones and radiating throughout my entire being. Although I couldn’t pinpoint what the cause was, there was no real need to do so. Such a feeling could probably be attributed to a combination of things, and for once my time was better spent accepting the way things were rather than questioning every facet. Like Kiada said, though, a long time had passed since she or even I had genuinely enjoyed myself in the way that I was now. It was my belief that happiness could be found in most things, if one searched hard enough. The feeling came to me here, standing in the stream, the sunshine showering down to warm my dampened body. I invited happiness in like the first rains, cool and fresh, after a long and parching drought. Because I was genuinely glad to be standing with her, enjoying the moment together, being present for that gift that was living and allowing it to intensify. This forest was so far from the home I'd left, but right now that was no matter; this moment was our own and right now, in this flash of the time continuum, I felt at home. "The coldness certainly does." I agreed with Kiada, shivering upon thinking of the water’s frigid temperatures. It probably came down from the mountains, where there was snow in the colder months. Then, when the snow did melt, it rushed down the side of the mountains and into the valleys, awakening the dormant land and shocking it to life again in icy waves. "We all deserve some peace every now and then for all of our troubles." Lowering my antlered head toward the current, I stopped just before my chin broke the translucent surface. My emerald gaze followed and analyzed the way the stream flowed around us, gently tugging my ivory mane downstream like a playful child, babbling gleefully and beckoning me to splash in its depths. A soft breath emitted from my lungs like a slight spring breeze, soft and gentle, almost lost against the drone of the stream. "I like the beautiful shapes and configurations that the water makes. It is never the same twice." My words were slow, as if my brain needed that time to process each and every undulation at my knees. As were countless aspects of the Rift, the stream was free and wild and fascinating. Though ordinary in appearance, there was a mysterious feel to it. Peaceful, quiet but powerful and unforgiving, surrounding us was visible proof that we couldn't know everything about the world, even if that was what we were sometimes made to believe. A smile crept and the air grew thick with a tenderness that couldn’t help but make me breathe slower, deeper, happier. "I see no reason to decline a rare opportunity to rest." I nodded to Kiada in agreement before turning my head to see if the cave she spoke of was anywhere in sight. All the while I became increasingly aware of my heart beating erratically in my chest. Was it a shiver from the icy droplets or- was my skin tingling when her gaze touched me through a curtain of pale hair? Feeling her blue eyes still on me, I silently inhaled and exhaled, hoping that her thoughts about me were at least good ones. "Talk." they heard me singing and they told me to stop quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock |
@Kiada no worries <3
